Tuesday, June 6, 2017

One of the things that Sam studied this year was the Shawnee Indians. He made a great presentation of his research. As I was researching, I realized I had never been to Prophetstown, where the leaders of the Shawnee tried to unite all the Indian Nations. Tecumseh, the chief of the Shawnee, and his brother, The Prophet. I had never been up to Prophetstown, there's a State Park there, and the Battle of Tippecanoe is up there past Lafayette too. 'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.' was all I could remember. I wanted to learn more. While discussing this all with my friend Kathy, I decided that when Summer rolled around, I wanted to go see Prophetstown. I knew Sam would get a lot out of it, and me too. I also figured other brothers would just have a good time on a road trip. My friend Kathy was interested in joining us, so we met up yesterday to go north and see what there was to see.

Priorities, yo.

First stop has to be Starbucks, with drinks for all!

We also met halfway between our homes, at the Zionsville Starbucks, so drinks were necessary.

I love that the boys all have drinks they like there now too.

Welcome to Prophetstown State Park!

As it turns out Kathy has the State Park pass, so she got us in free, which was bonus!

My sweetboys and I at the entry to Prophetstown.

We found the Blacksmith shop, on the ground by a 1920's farmhouse.

Of course, all that drinking made us all have to Go. As soon as we got to some sort of Civilization within the Park, we had to find the bathrooms. The Bathrooms and Smithery were right across the 'street' from the Farmhouse. I found a tick two seconds after I got out of the car. Ew. It made me spray us like a maniac for the rest of the day. Ticks don't like Peppermint.

Ding Dong, the boys ring the farm dinner bell, though it was still pretty early.

Check out this great iron stove.

I used to have a tiny iron model that Grandpa Jim and Meb gave me. I was able to take the handle and lift the burners, to show the boys where it was lit. My kids know nothing of gas stoves, we're all electric now.

Walking into the bedroom was like stepping into the past, it reminded me so much of my Grandparents and Great Grandparents. My Great Grandparent's photos were on the wall just like these!

The kids loved checking out the great old sewing machine.

I did too. I wanted to touch it all, and just hang out here.

We hadn't even found any of the Indian stuff.

This house belonged to owners of the land who donated it to become the State Park.

The piano player piano player piano room.

Is it a rocking chair, or a rocking horse?

Only Sam will ever know.

Jacob finds Chickens to observe, and chase.

This rooster had some things to say to Jacob.

My city boy was chasing the chickens around, like some kind of joke.

Now who's the Goose?

This silly boy couldn't wait to chase the ducks too.

The boys found some turkeys hiding in the shade.

Now who's the turkey? The birds, or the nuts in the heat?

The boys couldn't wait to take off and check out the barn.

Oink Oink!

Sam popped back by to talk to the pigs hanging out in the shade.

I wonder if he was trying to guess which one was the Birthday Pig.

The boys found the bunnies.

I kept walking around singing, "The bunneh, the bunneh, Ooo, I love the bunneh."

Too many Veggie Tales.

Ginger the great big bunneh.

After our adventures at the Farm House, we opted to go over to the Nature Center, and see what was what. But as soon as I opened the car, the kids took off. Jacob specificially. And as it turns out, Jacob found a bit of Nature before we even went indoors. And the DNR guys came a running.

Jacob found a snake!

It's a Fox Snake.

One of his cousins lived inside, in the Nature Center.

We suspected he was going in for a visit.

The kids were scared, but so were the guards.

Once he was picked up, he brought the snakey over to say hi.

He's not poisonous, but he could still bite. I loved seeing the DNR guy admitting his fear, but still picking it up, and doing so safely, without harming the snake.

The boys got to pet the snake.

I was particularly proud of Sam and Chris touching it. They had the sense to be afraid.

Not Jacob, Jacob had to be restrained, he would've taken the thing home!

Gimme kiss!

Then the guys took a long walk and set him free in the weeds. If he really wanted to come back, it was going to take him a fat long while.

Meanwhile back at the Nature Center, Christopher found a great outfit to try on!

Firefighter Chris to the Rescue!

Sam Saves the Day!

(He didn't get as dressed up as his brothers.

Firefighter Jacob to the rescue!

Pretty Painted Turtle was swimming around in the Nature Center.

There was an outdoor garden with a tiny pond, we hoped some of relatives would be out there, but no. Too hot.

Kathy shows Sam the skull of a deer, and asks him what it is.

They even compared/contrasted it with the skull of a raccoon.

It reminded me of the Field Museum, so many Stuffed Animals. (And not in the good way)

But the boys thought the bones and stuff they could play with were so cool.

Chris found the deer antlers.

I kind of love him for this.

After getting the scoop, we crossed the street and hiked a bit to find Prophetstown.

Inside one of the log homes were a bunch of old style farm tools.

This was the boy's favorite part!

Our Picnic lunch at Prophetstown.

Since the original was burned down, they rebuild some of the key structures out in the fields. There is very little nearby, and as it turned out, the longhouse behind us was being rebuilt as an Eagle Scout project.

Sam finds a model of Prophetstown inside the Chief's Long House.

The boys gather around the 'fire' in the Chief's Council House.

The boys exit the Medicine Cabin.

We went back to find out how to prounounce the Prophet's real name. It's Tenskwatawa.

As it turns out the pronounciation is flexible. It can be Ten-SQUAT-a-wa or Ten-swa-TA-wa.

Yeah, we'll just all call him The Prophet.

He thought that the only way to defeat the white man was to unite all the Indians together.

But after the loss of the Battle of Tippecanoe, he and his brother were disgraced. They lost not only the battle, but the war.

The Battle of Tippecanoe Memorial

Battle Ground, IN

They made this hill a National Landmark.

While we were leaving Prophetstown, I saw a giant needle, rising above the trees from the fields below. I was curious what that was, but we knew we were headed to 'Battle Ground'.

As it turned out, the giant needle was the Tippecanoe Memorial.

Jacob just wanted something to climb.

In memory of those who lost their lives at the Battle of Tippecanoe, November 8, 1811.

Dang, this thing was tall.

Guess who that general was, William Henry Harrison.

Yup, the fella who became President, and the slogan was Tippecanoe and Tyler too.

Tippecanoe was his nickname for winning the battle.

Stuffed snowy owl.

This was an accidental death near the Battle Ground, so they stuffed him for the Nature Center.

Beautiful. Someday I want to see one in person.

In case you also don't remember what happened at the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Jacob Crockett.

He really wanted one of these hats.

In fact, all the boys wanted goodies from the Gift Shop.

But it was enough that we had to pay real $$ to go into their bitty museum. I wasn't spending $ on toys. But then Kathy snuck around and got them all a treat, while we headed in.

Ah, she knows how to spoil some sweetboys. Rock Candy.

One of the identifying features of Shawnee clothing was the fringe.

I love that they had this sample out that the kids could play with and shake.

They thought that rattling the fringe was Awesome.

Shake that crazy fringe.

Check out these uniforms for the Dragoons and Drummer Boys.

People were shorter back in these days. The drummer was about Chris's height. Yipes.

Sam checks out the model of Prophetstown.

Hey, we were just there!

The biggest hit for the boys in this mini-museum was the canon.

They climbed, shot, battled, and hit imaginary enemies.

I also thought the flag behind them was interesting. There are only 17 stars, because Indiana was just a Territory when all this happened. It was another 5 years before we became a state.

Yeah, I have boys. I'd have walked right by the canon, but they thought it was the bee's knees.

Chris thought the Blunderbuss gun that the Dragoons used to use was pretty Awesome. They had guns and rifles on display for every American war so far, which was pretty cool. Of course, the littles just wanted to play with the canon.

Meanwhile, they had some other great patriotic goodies in the Museum.

Personally, I loved this dress. I could rock this look. Or maybe, in my spare time someday, I'll just make one of these for myself to wear for Patriotic Holidays.